Portable adjustable grain elevator



March 13, 1934. T, J. MCLAUGHLIN 1,950,506

PORTABLE ADJUSTABLE GRAIN ELEVATOR Filed 001:. 31. 1932 YVU M040 ThomasJ McLaughlin Patented Mar. 13, 1934 PORTABLE ADJUSTABLE GRAIN ELEVATORThomas J. McLaughlin, Lincoln, Nebr. Application October 31, 1932,Serial No. 640,405

2 Claims.

My invention relates to portable adjustable grain elevators, its primaryobject being the simplification of the grain elevator to thereby reduceits cost of manufacture and sale.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a grain elevator anda carriage support with detachable connections therebetween whereby theelevator may be used either with or without the support.

Another of my objects is the provision of an elevator having a shoe innovel relation to the elevator.

It is my object to provide an elevator which will readily slip under therear end portion of 15 a grain wagon in a manner such that the grain mayflow out through the end gate of the wagon and onto the elevator.

Another of my objects is the provision of a sliding relationship betweenthe elevator and 99 its support so that the shoe may slide under therear end portion of the grain wagon and also so that the elevator may beadjusted so that its delivery end will be in the desired position.

One of the important objects of my invention is the provision of a grainelevator in which the hinged shoe and other unnecessary mechanism areeliminated, the structure being not only simplified but so designed asto carry out all of the functions of the more complicated ele- 36vators.

Another of my objects is the provision of a simple but novel form ofdevice for adjusting the inclination of the elevator.

Having in view these objects and others which will be pointed out in thefollowing description, I will now refer to the drawing, in which Thefigure is a view in perespective of my grain elevator and its support.

9 The truck support includes a pair of rear wheels 10 and a pair offront wheels 11, each pair having an axle and the axles of the two pairsbeing connected by forwardly converging 5 braces 12. Secured to thefront axle is a tongue Journaled on the front axle 14 is a. pair ofstandards 15 having a transverse bar 16 uniting the standards 15 attheir upper extremities. The transverse bar 16 serves as a support forthe elevator support 17. The elevator support 17 is adjustable ininclination, this adjustment being about the front axle 14 with thestandards 15 as a radius.

The rear axle 18 also has a pair of standards 19 secured thereon, thestandards 19 extending to some distance above the axle 18. The standards19 are braced to the elevator support 17 by means of braces 20 whichhave a pivotal relation at 21 with the angle irons in the elevatorsupport 17. Journaled in the standards 19 is a crank shaft 22 having apawl and ratchet device 23. The cable 24 is secured to the elevatorsupport 1'7 at its delivery or upper end. From thence it passes over thepulley 25 and is connected to the shaft 22 to be wound thereon orunwound therefrom. It will be readily apparent that the winding of thecable 24 on the shaft 22 will elevate the upper end portion of theelevator support and that the unwinding of the cable will lower theelevator support, the movement taking place aboutthe front axle 14.

The elevator itself consists of two side members 26 which serve as sidewalls; these being connected at their lower edges by a floor which maybe either solid or of open construction. The side walls 26 and the floorterminate in extensions 26 and 27 respectively which. constitute theshoe of the elevator. The elevator is slidably mounted the elevatorsupport 17 both for the purpose of bringing the shoe into the desiredposition under the wagon when the grain is to be unloaded from the wagononto the elevator and also to bring the delivery end of the elevatorinto the desired position. The movement is manually controlled throughthe mechanism shown in Figure 1. The cables 34 are secured to a shaft 35which is journaled to the under sides of the angle iron'beams 17. Theshaft 35 is a crank shaft and it is further provided with a ratchet 36for preventing accidental unwinding. The shoe is so designed that whenthe delivery end of the elevator is at the maximum height, the shoe willbe substantially horizontal. The shoe is further provided with a hingedcover shown in dotted lines at 28. This cover when it is in its closedposition presents an open top for the admission of the grain from thegrain wagon. It provides an end Wall for the shoe and also raised sidewalls to prevent the spilling of the grain. The elevator is of theendless belt type including a pair of chains 29 and a belt with conveyorflights 30. This belt passes over upper and lower pulleys which arejournaled in the side members 26 and 26' respectively. At the upperextremity there is a belt tightener 31 of any desired type, the belttightener 31 being secured to the side members 26. The lower pulley isprovided with a belt pulley 32 for the application of power to I drivethe elevator. The chains 29 are guided over the angular portion by meansof guides 33 which are secured to the side walls 26 and 26' at theirjunction.

In use, the elevator is set up as shown in Figure 1. The shoe is raisedby means of the winding cable and the grain wagon is brought upalongside the shoe. The elevator is then lowered so as to bring the shoedirectly underneath the rear extremity of the grain wagon whereupon theend gate is opened to permit the grain to flow out onto the elevator;The application of power through the belt pulley 32 then carries thegrain upwardly, the elevator being so adjusted angularly that it willdeliver the grain into a bin or other receptacle.

While the elevator is designed initially and primarily for use on farmsas a grain elevator, it is obvious that its usefulness extends intoother fields. Even on the farm the elevator is adapted for numerous usesother than that of elevating grain. In excavations the elevator may beused for conveying the soil from the excavation. The elevator may beemployed either for dumping the soil at the mouth of the excavation orit may be employed for loading the soil onto the wagons which carry itaway.

Referring to Figure 1, it will be seen that the elevator consists of twoseparable parts: the elevator per se and the supporting structure forthe elevator. These parts are not merely separable but the separableconnections are of the utmost simplicity. If the cables 34 aredisconnected from the elevator frame, the entire elevator and its framemay be removed bodily from the support. This elevator will then be acomplete operative structure. The connection of the cables 34 is suchthat the cables may be readily released without danger of accidentalrelease. When the elevator structure is removed from its wheel support,it may be mounted on saw horses or any other convenient supports andadapted for any suitable use. For example, if it is desired to removesoil from a basement through a basement window, it is only necessary toinstall the elevator in the basement on suitable supports and to throwthe soil onto the elevator so that the elevator will carry the soil outthrough the basement window. Numerous other uses will become immediatelyapparent to the farmer or other possessor of the implement and they neednot here be described in detail.

Having thus described my invention in such full, clear, and exact termsthat its construction and operation will be readily understood by othersskilled in the art to which it pertains, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A portable elevator including a truck having front and rear axles, apair of supporting wheels journaled on each of said axles, a pair ofrelatively short standards on said front axle, a transverse bar joiningsaid standards at their upper extremities, a pair of relatively longstandards on said rear axle, an elevator support resting on saidtransverse bar, a transverse winding drum on said rear standards,pulleys at the upper extremities of said rear standards, cables on saidwinding drum, said cables passing over said pulleys and being detachablysecured to said elevator support at the upper extremity thereof for theangular adjustment of said elevator support about said front axle as apivot, an upwardly and rearwardly inclined elevator slidably mounted onsaid elevator support, a second transverse Winding drum on said elevatorsupport, and a cable detachably secured to said elevator at the forwardor lower extremity thereof, said cable being connected to said windingdrum for the slidable adjustment of said elevator on said elevatorsupport.

2. A portable elevator including an upwardly and rearwardly inclinedelevator frame having a substantially horizontal shoe rigidly andintegrally secured thereto at its lower extremity, an endless elevatorin said frame, a pulley drive in the shoe portion of said frame, anupwardly and rearwardly inclined elevator support, a transverse windingdrum on said elevator support, a cable secured to said winding drum anddetachably connected to said shoe for the slidable adjustment of saidelevator in said support, a transverse bar having a pivotal connectionat the forward extremity of said truck and adapted to support theforward portion of said elevator support, a pair of standards at therear end portion of said truck and straddling said elevator support,pulleys at the upper extremities of said standards, winding drums onsaid standards at points below said elevator support, and cables securedto said winding drums and trained over said pulleys and adapted fordetachable connection with said elevator support at the upper extremitythereof.

. THOMAS J. MoLAUGHLIN.

